Grafitti Junktion

A new burger bar opened up on Washington Street in the building formerly occupied by Midnight Blue, and I for one, was pleased that it was not another overpriced and trendy Thornton Park eatery. I for one prefer a casual neighborhood place where I can get a drink and a good burger. Too bad this place offers neither.

My first try we ordered a chicken nachos, and when the huge platter came out looking like it had ground beef on it, we sucked it up and ate it thinking it wasn't bad. But when we asked whether we had been served the wrong nachos, they told us the chicken was ground and seasoned like beef and that yes, they had served us the correct order. Oops, bad on our part for thinking our chicken nachos would have something that looked like chicken on them. After we found out they were chicken, and not beef, our opinion of them changed drastically. We lwould have iked them better if they had been beef, but as chicken, they just plain sucked.

When our burgers arrived, wow, we were impressed. Loved the fresh baked bun. When we took a bite, our opinion again changed. To put it kindly, the burger sucked. We ordered them medium, and they were what I would call WELL DONE. Not an ounce of juice, dark in the center, and crispy enough on the edges that the beef was crunchy. When the new owners stopped by the table to ask how our meal had been, we were totally honest with them about the nachos not meeting our expectations, and the burgers being overcooked. The owner then quizzed us on what we thought a MEDIUM burger should look like, and we answered "pink in the center" and he told us, that when they served them like that, customers complained that they weren't cooked enough. I'm not a snob, but I know the difference between rare, medium, and well done beef and was a bit shocked he didn't.

That was the end of our meal, and my dining companion said no more trips to Grafitti for him, but always to give a place a second chance, I came back a week later with my brother, not daring to tell him this was a new place, and that I had a bad experience there the week prior.

This time we tried an appetizer of wings. Couldn't believe it when they came out within 7 minutes. We even said, wow, that was awful fast for wings. We took one bite, and YUMMY, they were awesome, took another bite and UGH, BLOODY!!!! No, we did not order our wings RARE! When we mentioned it to the waitress, she actually said "maybe the chicken is just more red" and we looked at her strangely as she walked away.

A few minutes later, another waitress brought us our 'medium' burgers, and without saying a thing to him, the first thing my brother says when he takes a bite of his burger is "wow, kinda crunchy and dry, didn't we order these medium?" Ugh, I couldn't believe it, another bad experience.

On a side note, we ordered another round of draft beer, and after several attempt of them trying to pour a beer, my brother saw them take 3 bottles from the cooler and pour them into our beer mugs and serve them without even telling us they had made the switch.

When our waitress finally returned, we showed her the plate of bloody wings, and she finally admitted that the kitchen pre-cooks the wings, and then just blanches them in the oil before serving. Obviously, they didn't cook them enough. To her credit, she did remove the charge for the wings from our bill without us having to ask, but we did have to point out the bloody mess before she admitted to what happened.

So here is the skinny. This place obviously doesn't have a qualified chef behind the scenes and I think the food is just an excuse to have a liquor license. Go for a drink, and avoid the burgers unless you want it well done and crispy, which seems to be the only way you will get them. If you want a great burger cooked to order, go to Fuddruckers.